play in steering gear box

my steering definitely feels loose. im suspecting the steering gear box because i can grab the steering column and twist it quite a bit with my hand. I know other things can cause the feel of loose steering so i guess my question is should i be able to twist the steering column that much or is that amount of play normal. i ahev attached a video.

http://youtu.be/HU0vBAfV0jg

i checked out everything else on the front end and it seems to be fine. no connections are loose or appear to be worn.

also i have to hold the wheel at 11:00 as apposed to 12:00 for the jeep to go straight. if i let go of the wheel it straightens out but the jeep drifts to the right.
thanks for any help

the view of the u-joint in the video doesn't tell us anything. Would be helpful to know year/mileage of the XJ. The steering boxes do wear, resulting in loose steering, but they never steered like a new vehicle.

Have someone look (and feel) underneath for movement as you turn the wheel. Placing a hand over a tie rod end can detect worn parts better than a visual. Also look at the box itself for movement..not unusual for the steering box mount to become loose from the "frame" rail.

The issue of the steering wheel being at 11 o'clock is an alignment issue...easily adjustable. And the pull to one direction is also an alignment issue. Have you had a professional alignment done recently?

The steering gear is at its tightest when properly centered.
Get under the front your XJ and have someone crank the steering wheel back and forth. Look at the bottom bearing of pitman shaft, just above the pitman arm.
Good chance you will see and feel the shaft moving sideways, indicating a worn bushing. Big tires and offset wheels are hard on steering boxes, especially the bottom bushing.

The gearbox is somewhat adjustable.

There's videos on Youtube of course.

dobesrgrt said:

The gearbox is somewhat adjustable.

There's videos on Youtube of course.

Click to expand...

Be wary of what you read on the net. Adjusting a box is a life or death issue. It's not horribly hard when done on the bench, but in the vehicle is a gamble even for an experienced mechanic.

Before screwing with the adjustment, have someone rock the wheel back and forth over the range of the play in the wheel. Get under and place your hands on the input shaft and output shaft at the same time. The input shaft should not rotate any if the output shaft does not move. Most times I have seen more slop in the TRE's and linkage than the box.

Mine does the same.
This is what i did.
http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/project-hippo-black-99-xj-128806/index5/#post1887095